How do garden centres become popular travel check-in spots?

Last time I recommended 4 gardens from the Peony UK study tour, this time let's switch things up and talk about the ins and outs of shopping in the UK~

Besides cosmetics and bag daigou, as a "plant person", while visiting gardens I discovered that the garden centres in British gardens are also super fun to browse!

Besides plants and gardening tools, British garden centres have an incredibly rich range of categories, and many little plant-themed trinkets totally sparked the tour group's urge to buy. Most of the gifts Peony brought back for friends were also bought in garden centres.

The third installment of the UK study tour is all about garden centres. I hope that when you go to the UK, you can have a different shopping experience in garden centres~

{Peony Girl Vol.779 }

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UK Study Tour Garden Centres Edition

In Peony's impression, garden centres are often found in flower and bird markets, with a small storefront packed with all kinds of green plants and succulents, plus some flower pots and simple tools.

Or they're the cultural-creative shops in botanical gardens, where besides green plants there are also stationery, accessories, carved wooden curios and other souvenirs for sale. These souvenirs are so aloof, displayed in glass cabinets like jewellery. Honestly, the urge to buy instantly fizzles out.

So what about British garden centres, what tricks can they pull off?

Everyone knows the British love gardens. Plants and flowers have become part of their lives, as important as burgers and fries.

So,British garden centres are more like a complex of botanical aesthetics. Besides basic plants, seedlings and gardening tools, there are also many plant-themed peripheral products, such as home goods, gourmet snacks, jewellery and accessories, clothing and bags; larger garden centres even have a cafe or restaurant.

Garden centres don't just sell gardening supplies, they sell a natural lifestyle aesthetic of plants and flowers.

Most of the gardens Peony visited had garden merchandise. Being able to shop while touring gardens opened a door to a new world for me. I walked into the garden centre just planning to take a casual look, and walked out with an empty wallet and a heart left behind there.

Without further ado, let's begin our garden centre shopping trip~ If you can't buy them, just feast your eyes first

Kew Gardens Garden Centre

As the NO.1 in the hearts of plant lovers worldwide, Kew Gardens' garden centre is naturally second to none, and it's also Peony's favourite.

The buildings of British garden centres are mostly in a pastoral countryside style, with no massive promotional messages at the entrance, just a simple archway and a sign telling you this is a garden centre.

Fruit and flower teas are neatly arranged on the shelves,

because the packaging is good-looking enough,

there's not the slightest feel of a supermarket promotion.

Sometimes, books, accessories and plants are displayed together,

because plants are both decoration and merchandise.

Kew's shop has a great variety of goods, with gardening supplies being just one category; books, home goods, food and drinks, and fashion and beauty also hold important positions.

Flowers and gardening tools are standard

Book section

Amusing little birds

What the tour group loved most was still the fashion and beauty section, with lots of goods, some handmade by artisans and some from British local brands.

A basketful of hand creams

Bags and purses

Printed kimono dressing gowns

Pure plant-based soaps are inspired by the plants in Kew Gardens,

the wrapping paper is so pretty you can't bear to tear it open.

Printed cups and tableware, I love every single one,

Aston Pottery's cups are very fresh and cute,

after returning, I regretted not buying a couple more.

Attracted by the wrapping paper of this plant chocolate,

do you want to taste chocolate with a wonderful plant fragrance?

All kinds of beautiful botanical wines,

I want to stay forever drunk in the fragrance of plants mixed with alcohol.

Wisley Garden Shop

The Wisley Garden Shop sticks to its own characteristics of garden landscape design; people can buy professional gardening tools there, including large archways, garden irrigation systems and greenhouses.

The British garden bench that many people love,

well, the Wisley Garden Shop sells this kind of chair.

The gardening tools in the shop all come from leading British brands, and only those with professional certification can be sold in the Wisley shop.

For example, the brand Burgon&Ball, with a history of nearly 300 years, its tools have always been the choice of picky gardeners, and its gardening gift series is so good-looking it makes your hands itch, you want to dig soil the moment you walk out the door.

For the little things ordinary tourists want to buy, the gifts in the Wisley Garden Shop are also very distinctive. If Kew's gift peripherals are fresh and dainty, then Wisley's have a classical flavour.

Plant-print throw pillows

Printed aprons

Fragrance and perfume

Drinking British afternoon tea from cups like these,

couldn't be more fitting.

Official website | https://www.rhs.org.uk

Stourhead Garden Shop

Browsing the Stourhead Garden Shop feels a lot like browsing MUJI, with a very rich range of home goods, stationery, clothing and accessories. The money from the shop's sales goes to raise funds for the garden.

Colourful cups and throw pillows

Gardening tools

Cute cast-iron little animals

The Stourhead Garden Shop is happy to sell some local "specialties", from wooden bowls made of local wood to beautiful ceramics; there are many locally made crafts you can take home.

Seasonal homemade jams and chutneys,

all made by hand in small batches.

The same plant-print combination,

take the whole set home, missing any one would be a regret.

The mirror in Woburn Garden mentioned last time,

the Stourhead Garden Shop has it for sale,

carry it home and shoot great photos anytime, anywhere.

Many of the plants sold at Stourhead Garden are plants grown in the garden itself; they hope everyone can create their own Stourhead park at home.

Depending on the season, the design displays and colours inside the Stourhead Garden Shop also change accordingly. Every visit you can see something new, and of course there's no aesthetic fatigue.

Official website | https://shop.nationaltrust.org.uk/

Perrywood Garden Centre

This garden centre isn't located inside a garden, but is a professional garden centre, ranked 4th by the UK Garden Centre Association.

If you want to turn your courtyard into a real garden, coming to Perrywood is absolutely the right choice. They not only have plants and gardening tools, but also very professional staff, and what shocked Peony is that they even sell animals!

Rich flowers and plants

The shop is very large in scale,

it's a gardening complex integrating leisure and entertainment.

You can BBQ with friends

Join plant DIY activities

Of course, there are also the plant-themed home items that tourists love.

Printed tableware

Home accessories

Jam everywhere

Official website | https://www.perrywood.co.uk/online-shop/

After visiting these 4 garden centres, I found that the British love for gardens really permeates every aspect of life.

And the fun of travel lies in discovering completely different ways of life nourished by different cultures.In the UK, even an ordinary restaurant or flower shop has a strong "English charm".

When Peony had just left the UK, I wanted to go back and browse again. Because even the shops in the UK are so beautiful they're mesmerizing, and this beauty makes people unable to resist voluntarily opening their wallets.

These are just a microcosm of British garden centres,

Some plant-themed peripherals aren't what you'd call expensive,

but the fresh feeling from nature

is enough to give people a strong urge to buy.

I really wish that one day, there would be garden centres like these in China too~

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